i really feel the writing stood out in New Vegas. i do have some issues with the core player character (i’ll write about that, some day), but otherwise there were so many compelling elements to the game.

pretty much all of the missions fit nicely in the context of the whole Mojave Wasteland, including all the fun references to other Fallout games (Mr. Bishop! holy crap! that blew me away.) that thankfully didn’t feel conspicuously placed. so many of the characters were very well fleshed-out, something that was pushed by the notably better voice work. i especially liked all the companion missions: getting to know the characters better, enjoying the voice acting, and learning some pretty messed-up stuff about their backgrounds.

i’d say one part of the writing that kinda fell flat: random encounters and Wild Wasteland. there just seemed to be a lot less random stuff happening in the game, like fewer people wandering the wastes (though, i guess it is a desert) and fewer of those uninhabited places that tell a story (like the various little bunkers across the Capitol Wasteland). it’s also very easy to miss Wild Wasteland encounters, and those i did see were kinda cool but lacked the punch of the Fallout 2 wackiness.

Until they fix the seriously flawed game mechanics this game should not have been nominated.
Got the 360 version today for my birthday… downloaded the patch, play… creatures walking through walls, NPC’s waling into each other… random freezes… come on… sort it out.